Name: Gilberto Q. Conchas
Title: The Wayne K. and Anita Woolfolk Hoy Endowed Professorship of Education
Department: Education Policy Studies
Phone: 814-865-1487
Email: gqc5530@psu.edu
Office address: 204A Rackley Building
Directory entry: https://ed.psu.edu/directory/dr-gilberto-q-conchas
Conchas obtained a doctorate and master of arts in sociology from the University of Michigan and a bachelor of arts in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to coming to Penn State, he was professor of educational policy and social context at the University of California, Irvine; assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; and senior program officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Conchas is an expert on qualitative research methods, with a particular focus on case study methodology. His research focuses on inequality with an emphasis on urban communities and schools. Numerous scholarly journals have published his work. He is the author of nine books, including “The Color of Success: Race and High-Achieving Urban Youth,” “Small Schools and Urban Youth: Using the Power of School Culture to Engage Youth,” “StreetSmart SchoolSmart: Urban Poverty and the Education of Boys of Color,” and “Cracks in the Schoolyard—Confronting Latino Educational Inequality.” His current co-authored book, “The Chicana/o/x Dream: Hope, Resistance, and Educational Success,” was conferred the 2021 Book-of-the-Year Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE).
Conchas’ collective work seeks not to be reactive when dealing with efforts to deal with social inequality impacting low-income communities. Instead, he looks to solutions that eradicate the roots of the social problems facing the most marginalized. Such research efforts are not accomplished in isolation — they require scholarship that has influence in the academy and beyond. In partnership with community entities, he addresses the challenges of low-income communities and the populations they serve. He seeks solutions within various social contexts — in and out of the school setting — where he highlights his perspectives on the factors and influences that structure success instead of failure.
Conchas has been a visiting professor at the University of Southern California; San Francisco State University; University of Washington; University of Barcelona, Spain; and the University of California, Santa Barbara and Berkeley.